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FT: SUNDERLAND 1 LIVERPOOL 1

• Liverpool dominate the opening stages• But Steven Fletcher gives Sunderland the lead• The Black Cats take a 1-0 lead into the break• Liverpool are still on top in the second 45 minutes• Luis Suarez grabs a deserved equaliser for the visitors

19.45 It's the first time in 101 years Liverpool have failed to win any of the first four league games of the season, but they were certainly the better team here and Sunderland will be pleased to have come away with a point. The hosts took the lead thanks to a poacher's finish from Steven Fletcher after half an hour, but Luis Suarez - who might have earned his side a first-half penalty - grabbed a deserved equaliser half-way through the second period. It was the very least Liverpool, who still sit way down in 17th place with two points from four games, deserved.

Now the ESPN mic is poked under the nose of Brendan Rodgers: "I am very very pleased with the performance. The players' commitment and quality tonight was outstanding. It bodes well for us going forward."

Glen Johnson tells ESPN Liverpool are better than results would suggest. On the balance of today's display he certainly has a point - Liverpool completely dominated Sunderland and probably deserved the three points. Still, they do need to be far more clinical, and there is much for boss Brendan Rodgers to ponder.

Here's Seamus Gallen via email: "Liverpool do lack a cutting edge, and, yes, Sunderland have not been impressive. They seem to change players every season, but turn out to be no better. Always solid, but little else."

FULL TIME

90+3 min Corner for Liverpool. Like so much tonight, it's a waste for the visitors.

90+2 min Louis Saha unleashes a vicious 25-yard snap shot, but Pepe Reina - who has been a virtual spectator in this second half - watches it fly over his bar.

90 min It's still all a bit scrappy as we head into injury time. There will be three minutes of it.

87 min Raheem Sterling wins a free kick for Liverpool on the left-hand edge of the area as he is tripped by Sessegnon. But the dead ball is wasted by, of all people, Steven Gerrard.

86 min Louis Saha comes on for Steven Fletcher. What impact will that have on Sunderland's mentality?

83 min Just about Sunderland's first attack of the second half. Fraizer Campbell finds a bit of space, which quickly closes up. He feeds James McClean, overlapping on the left, but the Irishman's shot is high and wide from a narrow angle. A bit of a waste.

80 min Another shot by Luis Suarez - I make that his eighth - is smartly saved by Mignolet. The rebound falls to Shelvey, but he sends a looping header over the bar.

79 min Sunderland survive that one, too. They really are clinging on to a point here, though - they're playing like a lower-league team in a cup tie.

78 min That corner comes to nothing, but Livepool now have another one.

76 min Still more than a quarter of an hour to go but you get the sense Sunderland are holding on. Glen Johnson wins another corner for Liverpool.

71 min GOAL!! Sunderland 1 Liverpool 1 (Suarez) It's definitely not undeserved. Raheem Sterling does very well down the right to make a little space for himself to cross the ball in towards Suarez. It eventually drops at the feet of the Uruguayan, who nearly knocks the goal over as he smashes the ball past Mignolet. You'd have to say Liverpool look the more likely side to grab a winner here.

69 min The visitors are continuing to press, but it really is not clinical. There seems to be little chance of Sunderland catching them on the break, though.

65 min A corner for Liverpool - who are starting to ratchet up the pressure - comes to Gerrard whose shot is deflected on to Skrtel's head. Mignolet does well to hold on.

63 min A foul on halfway by Martin Skrtel, who becomes the second player in referee Martin Atkinson's book.

61 min Woodwork! Liverpool really should be level. Steven Gerrard hits the outside of the right-hand post after an intelligent square ball from Jonjo Shelvey. Borini had already got in to disrupt Sunderland keeper Mignolet, but the Liverpool captain couldn't take advantage.

59 min It might just be me but James McClean looks like he is constantly foul throwing the ball. In other news, Jack Colback blasts miles over.

57 min The first spell of Sunderland pressure in the second half as they win a corner on the right. It falls to Craig Gardner, who absolutely smashes a half-volley at goal. It looked like it was on target, but Martin Kelly got in the way. Looked painful, blimey.

54 min Suarez wins a free kick out wide on the right, which is whipped in by Steven Gerrard. Titus Bramble gets a big header on the ball, but it's been all Liverpool since the interval.

51 min Woodwork! Superb play by Glen Johnson again as he cuts inside and unleashes a curling shot from the left-hand corner of the area, which crashes against the crossbar. Mignolet beaten, but saved by the frame of his goal. A very positive start to the second half from the visitors.

50 min A decent cross from Glen Johnson shoots through the Sunderland six-yard box, but there is nobody in a black shirt there to pounce for Liverpool.

49 min Suarez doing himself no favours in the likeability stakes as he deflects a Martin Skrtel shot out for a goal kick then berates referee Atkinson for not giving a corner.

47 min Liverpool pass the ball about for about 90 seconds before Shelvey finds a bit of space 25 yards out. His shot is weak, though, and rolls into the path of Simon Mignolet.

18.30 We're about to get under way in the second half. Carlos Cuellar is replaced by Titus Bramble for Sunderland.

18.25 Hmm. Just watched the Suarez penalty/dive incident again, and I'm beginning to agree with Craig Burley - I think that might have been a penalty. Still, it's a close call, so let's not get too angry with Martin Atkinson.

18.23 Of course, the game is perhaps not the most important thing on the minds of many, if not most people associated with Liverpool Football Club. Here were the Liverpool players lining up before the start of the game:

18.18 Not a great first 25 minutes - pretty poor in fact - but Sunderland scored with their first shot of the match through Steven Fletcher to take a lead they barely deserved. Liverpool have created a few chances, but Brendan Rodgers's side will have a bit of work to do in the second half. They really lack a cutting edge. Or is that confidence?

HALF TIME

45+1 min We're into the single minute of added time.

45 min Sebastian Larsson robs Glen Johnson of possession (looked a bit like a foul to me) and gets in behind the Liverpool defence. But his square ball is a poor one and is easily mopped up.

42 min Sunderland are on top on the scoreboard but Liverpool are still having just about the better of the midfield battle. They're just getting a bit frustrated as they try to convert that into meaningful efforts.

37 min Luis Suarez gets to the by-line inside the Sunderland penalty area and goes down... It's a yellow card for Suarez for diving dished out by Martin Atkinson. Looks a fair enough decision.

35 min ...which Suarez smashes into the wall. Corner kick for Liverpool, which Sunderland are able to get clear.

34 min Liverpool win a free kick in a dangerous area as Danny Rose concedes a foul...

29 min GOAL!! Sunderland 1 Liverpool 0 (Fletcher) Poor old Brendan Rodgers won't know what's going on. Sunderland's first shot and they take the lead as Craig Garnder bursts through a couple of weak tackles and sends in a low cross which Steven Fletcher taps in after getting away from his marker. Against the run of play - but the hosts hardly care about that.

27 min Luis Suarez gets free down the right as he ghosts past John O'Shea. He runs the ball into the Sunderland box, and Glen Johnson eventually goes down under a bit of pressure from a couple of home defenders. No penalty, and danger avoided for the Black Cats. A stat flashes up on ESPN which is rather revealing - Sunderland are yet to have a shot on goal; Liverpool have had six.

25 min Simon Mignolet gets down well, low to his left, to parry a snap shot from Borini which had a bit of venom behind it. The ball had dropped nicely for the Italian, who smashed it from about 15 yards out.

24 min Jonjo Shelvey runs at the Sunderland defence, and carries on running when you're begging him to shoot or spread the ball wide. It's been very scrappy thus far.

20 min Sunderland's turn to go close as Sebastian Larsson curls a free kick in from out wide on the left. It almost sneaks in the corner itself, but it was a wonderful delivery and was crying out for a header from one of Larsson's team-mates.

19 min Carlos Cuellar gets in a bit of a pickle down at the other end - his header back to Mignolet plops off his head and Borini is in. But Mignolet reacts well to get out and block the shot, and Jonjo Shelvey's follow-up from outside the box is hopelessly wide.

18 min Sessegnon thinks he's won a corner as he almost gets around the back of Glen Johnson, but the Liverpool man's sliding tackle deflects off the Sunderland forward - goal kick.

14 min Liverpool having slightly the better of both territory and possession and what few half-chances there are to speak of. It's all a bit untidy though.

11 min Suarez has a little run to the edge of the area but his shot - back across his body - rolls harmlessly wide.

"I would love a 3-1 to Liverpool. Suarez, Shelvey and Sterling," says John Fraser in Paignton but again formerly from Liverpool. Judging as best I can the tone of the email, it seems that guess is more in hope than expectation.

8 min A less good pass from Gerrard this time. It's gobbled up by Mignolet in the Sunderland net. Nothing doing early on.

6 min A superb ball from Steven Gerrard down the left flank releases Glen Johnson. The ball finds its way to Luis Suarez inside the box, but the move breaks down.

4 min First effort on goal is from Liverpool's Jonjo Shelvey, but he gets his shot all wrong and it goes wide.

Duke Addleman with a late - and I'd suggest somewhat implausible - prediction: "Sunderland 3 Liverpool 2. Fletcher performs a hat trick, then makes history by getting tattoed on the pitch to celebrate the feat. Suarez nets a brace in the loss - Liverpool loses the striker for two weeks due to previously-scheduled sneer-correction surgery."

3 min Both teams are sizing the other up at the moment. No super-early opportunities.

1 min £12m man Steven Fletcher kicks the ball. The game has started.

17.28 Double Olympic hero Mo Farah is among the "celebs" at this one, a guest of Black Cat and BBC commentator Steve Cram.

17.26 Dance of the Knights (that's the tune off the Apprentice) blares out over the stadium tannoy. Here come the teams.

17.21 So after the Reading postponement, this is the first game of the season at the Stadium of Light this year. The weather's better this time - glorious might be the somewhat cliched expression.

We have our first prediction in a newly made, prizeless prediction game! It's from Peter in Ipswich (formerly Liverpool): "Liverpool will win 3-1, Suarez with two goals."

17.11 It's early days, sure, but both teams would dearly love a win here. If they win, Liverpool will have got off to their worst start since goodness knows when, but the Black Cats are only four places and one point ahead of them. In fairness to Sunderland, they've only played two, with their game against Reading postponed due to a water-logged pitch. In August.

17.04 We all remember this, from when the sides met in the North East in October 2009, don't we? This needs absolutely no caption for Liverpool fans.

16.47 We've got the confirmed team news. The biggest talking point is probably that Adam Johnson has failed to recover from the thigh injury picked up on international duty and will miss out.

16.42 Flags are flying at half mast at the Stadium of Light in honour of the 96 Liverpool fans who died at Hillsborough.

16.34 We've heard rumours in the build up to the game that Sunderland fans are going to join their Liverpool counterparts in a chant of "Justice for the 96" after six minutes of this one, which would be a lovely gesture. Six minutes was all that was played of that match at Hillsborough 23 years ago before the match was abandoned.

16.30 The action on the pitch is bound to be overshadowed, rightly, by the findings of the Hillsborough report which were released this week. It's been a hugely important week for Liverpool FC, and while they will want to come away from the Stadium of Light with three points, it is hardly a long-term priority in the context of everything that's happened since their last Premier League outing.

Team News Sunderland winger Adam Johnson is battling to retain his place in the starting line-up after returning injured from international duty.

The 25 year-old missed England's World Cup qualifiers against Moldova and Ukraine with a thigh problem and will only be considered if he emerges unscathed from training on Friday.

Full-back Danny Rose, signed on loan from Tottenham, could make his debut for the club and midfielder David Vaughan, who played 45 minutes for Wales in their 6-1 defeat in Serbia on Tuesday night after recovering from an ankle injury, may figure.

Defenders Phil Bardsley and Wes Brown are making good progress, but are well short of match fitness.

Liverpool left-back Jose Enrique's knee injury will be assessed ahead of tomorrow's trip to the Stadium of Light.

The Spaniard has been training this week after the recurrence of a problem which has dogged him since the start of the season.

Midfielder Joe Allen has recovered from illness which disrupted his international duty with Wales while manager Brendan Rodgers is confident Luis Suarez and Sebastian Coates will be fine after international duty having travelled back from South America.

Match Notes Sunderland manager Martin O’Neill knows his club must strike the right balance between paying their respects to the Liverpool supporters betrayed by the Hillsborough cover-up and their desire to extend the visitor’s winless start to the Premier League season under new manager Brendan Rodgers.

It will be a highly emotional evening for all given the revelations of the last week and a draw may be the most satisfactory outcome.

Stat of the game: Liverpool have one draw and two defeats from their opening three games, their worst start for 50 years.